The story takes place in the fictional town of Beartown in Sweden which has suffered a decline in the past few years. Hope is on the horizon as the once community-based hockey town is about to return to its glory days. This is thanks to the youth hockey team and its star athlete Kevin Erdahl who revives the local community cohesion through the sport. However, a violent act by the athlete threatens to ruin the reputation of the team and in turn the whole town. The survival of the small town now lies in whether Kevin stays on the team which prompts rivalries and debates among the townsfolk. The narrative explores the moral rectitude of a community that is about to fall apart by succumbing to its weaknesses.
The conflict in the novel arises following a semi-final victory where Kevin rapes a fellow student, Maya, and the consequences of his actions follow. As a traumatized Maya debates whether to tell anyone, there is also a key witness who can corroborate her version of events. She eventually tells her parents, which initiates town politics involving Maya’s father who is the general manager of the hockey team, and Kevin’s father. The incident pits the two families against each other as Maya’s parents seek justice while Kevin’s father strives to bury the accusation and save the team. The story highlights both sides of the spectrum where a parent seeks to protect their child by exploring their moral strength in the face of a predicament.
The author focuses on how fear and misplaced hope can lead to the moral corruption of a person and people towards a particular end. Alongside most of the townsfolk, Kevin’s father wants to discredit the rape accusation so that the hockey team has its crucial player during the finals. He goes on to bribe the witness by promising a job for his mother but to the surprise of many he confesses the truth. The victim still harbors the trauma from the incident and wants the pain to go away one way or another. She instills fear in her attacker in the same manner he did which grants her some relief and closure. Though the community fails to defend her, she takes it upon herself to save herself.
